If there's one problem you never want to see with a vehicle, it's unintended acceleration. That’s when the vehicle you’re driving decides to accelerate even though you're not pressing the accelerator pedal.
As reported to Edmunds, some owners have filed complaints regarding this issue with their Dodge Charger EV. A test car being driven by journalists with the outlet experienced the same problem, with one reporting a completely unexplained unintended acceleration.
In that case, a number of warning lights appeared on the dashboard, as well as an indication that the car was entering "low power" mode, which seems to be a setting that allows the car to be driven slowly in the event of a major malfunction. When pressing the accelerator pedal, acceleration was very slow, according to Edmunds.
The problem was that when lifting off the accelerator pedal, instead of slowing down due to regenerative braking, the car continued to accelerate at a rate of around one mile per hour per second.
The incident was filmed and clearly see what happens when the problem occurs. To slow down, the driver had to apply the brakes with more pressure than usual. And, upon releasing the brake, the car continued to accelerate up to 70 km/h, with no action on the accelerator pedal.
The problem disappeared after the driver parked the car, left it and then got back in.
Software issue?
Clearly, this points to a software issue, but it remains concerning.
Motor1 contacted Stellantis regarding the issue but received only a terse response that didn't really address the situation experienced by the Edmunds team and certain owners.
Stellantis' Canadian division contacted us to give us their perspective, which we're sharing with you. And in passing, the company mentions that the car responded according to established occupant safety protocols. Here's their official statement:
"Driver safety and confidence are key to every Stellantis vehicle. In this case, the Dodge Charger Daytona operated as designed: When a propulsion system fault was detected, the vehicle activated a safety function known as “Drive By Brake.” This feature provides enough controlled power so the driver can safely move the vehicle off the road to a secure location. In this mode, the accelerator pedal is overridden and the brake pedal controls the vehicle’s speed, allowing the driver to stop the car at any time. This function helps prevent vehicles from becoming stranded in traffic. Stellantis is reviewing our in-vehicle messaging and other customer information materials to ensure that this feature is intuitive and easy to understand. We encourage all customers to respond promptly to service alerts and available software updates. This safety feature has been in Stellantis internal combustion engine vehicles for many years and has been carried over to hybrid and battery electric vehicles."